Opening Night – Mark Wahlberg Plays His Hometown Hero in The Fighter

Posted by Emily Lanois

7 years ago

When actor Mark Wahlberg was 18, he met his local hero, “Irish” Micky Ward — a Massachusetts boxer who went on to become a two-time titleholder in the World Boxing Union. Twenty years later, Wahlberg is portraying Ward and his battle to become an eventual boxing legend in The Fighter, directed by David O. Russell (I Heart Huckabees, Three Kings). Wahlberg, who was also a producer on the film, made a promise to Ward to bring the boxer’s hardscrabble life story to the big screen. It was a difficult promise to deliver on: while the film was in development several directors and co-stars came and went, and financing was hard to attain. But Walhberg believed in the project — so much so that he trained in the ring for almost five years to keep in top boxing shape for when cameras would eventually roll. In our AMC News interview, Wahlberg reiterated his respect and admiration for Ward, saying, “I would trade all the success and all the things that I’ve done to be the champ for an hour.”